Tamaki Suoh
René Tamaki Richard de Grantaine Suoh (aka Tamaki Suoh), is the son of Ouran Academy's Chairman, Yuzuru Suoh and also the official president of the Ouran Host Club. Tamaki is in Class 2-A, the same class with his best friend, Kyoya Ootori. Personality Tamaki Suoh is credited as the co-founder (along with Kyoya Ootori) and President of the Ouran High School Host Club. Although his outward manner would be best described as flamboyant, egotistical and dramatic, he is, in fact, a young man dedicated to his studies, his friends, and his duties as a host. He is considered the "princely" type, entertaining his female clients with upper-class etiquette and shameless flattery. He views the club as his "family" with himself as the father; Kyoya Ootori as the mother; Haruhi Fujioka as the daughter; the Hitachiin brothers (Hikaru and Kaoru) as the sons; and Mori and Honey as the neighbors. His real family consists of his mother, Anne-Sophie de Grantaine (who he is forbidden to see by his grandmother until late in the manga); his father, Yuzuru Suoh (Chairman of the School Board for Ouran Academy); and his strict paternal grandmother, Shizue Suoh. He is also known to be an accomplished classical pianist. As the main comic relief character of the series, Tamaki is portrayed as outspoken and naive for his age. Throughout the anime and manga series, his face expressions are exagerrated the most. He is especially blind to his own feelings of romantic love towards Haruhi, of which the other Hosts are completely aware. Of all the hosts, Tamaki's personality as a host differs the most from his true personality; although he seems both poised and charming as a host, he is often bumbling and attention-seeking outside of that milieu. His desire to please the Host Club's female guests, however, is genuine, to the point that he sets aside his love for Haruhi in order to continue pleasing customers without any hindrances. Tamaki is born under the star sign of Aries, the Ram. The positive traits of this sign are adventurousness, courage, versatility, liveliness, positivity and passion; the negative traits being arrogance, stubborness, impulsivity, a lack of discipline, a tendency towards being confrontational and a tendency to leave projects midway. Appearance Being a child born of mixed parentage (Japanese by his father and French by his mother), Tamaki has pale-blond hair and violet eyes. When he's not at school, he prefers to wear haute couture clothing. His good looks and charm often allow him to win over others and he is known by the rest of his club members as Tono (i.e. King/Boss), with a 70% request rate by the female guests. He enjoys cosplay and does so with the Club, often. He is able to cry without the use of eyedrops (which he claims to be the mark of a true host) and his appearance been compared to Umehito Nekozawa (the President of the Black Magic Club). Tamaki's rose color in the Host Club is white. In Japanese culture, this signifies innocence, which manifests itself in Tamaki's general naivete. In Western culture, the white rose is symbolic of happiness in love. This is ironic insofar that, although he genuinely strives to provide his female customers with happiness in their love pursuits, he himself is unable to recognize his own love for Haruhi until the near-finale of the manga and only marginally in the anime's final episode. Family Suoh Family Tamaki is the only child of Yuzuru Suoh, Chairman of Ouran Academy's School Board and Anne-Sophie de Grantaine, a beautiful and kind-hearted French woman with whom Yuzuru falls in love during a business trip to Paris. Due to Tamaki's illegitimacy, Shizue Suoh, the matriarch of the Suoh Family and his strict grandmother, forces him to live in the secondary mansion, as opposed to the main one. It is also his grandmother who offers his mother financial security in return for custody of the then 14-year-old Tamaki. Yuzuru Suoh Yuzuru Suoh is the patriarch of the Suou family, as well as Tamaki's father; however, his power is limited by his mother's iron control over the Suoh holdings. Despite his status as Chairman, Yuzuru can do nothing to help his son reconcile with the stern woman. It should be noted that Tamaki's father defied his mother only once, when he broke off his marriage with his mother's choice for his wife to be with Tamaki's mother. Later, in Volume 9 of the manga, it is revealed that Yuzuru knows where Anne-Sophie is located following her "disappearance," but keeps this to himself to allow Tamaki's grandmother time to reconcile with her grandson. At the conclusion of both the anime and the manga, it is shown that he wishes for his son to marry Haruhi Fujioka, in opposition to Yoshio Ootori's desire for her to become Kyoya's bride. Although Tamaki's looks come from his mother, his charming nature is much like his father's. In his father's presence, however, Tamaki is quite serious, though the same cannot be said of the opposite. In fact, in the manga, Yuzuru is portrayed as someone who teases his son whenever the chance arises - examples of this in the manga include sending his son "red herrings" in the middle of an investigation and telling tall tales about ninjas. Anne-Sophie de Grantaine Anne-Sophie is Tamaki's mother, who voluntarily separated herself from her son and beloved for specific reasons, and resides in France. She originally meets Yuzuru Suoh while he's in Paris on a business trip, falling in love with him and bearing him a son. However, when Tamaki is born, she and her son are forbidden by Shizue Suoh to return to Japan with Yuzuru. Instead, she raises Tamaki in France until he is fourteen, at which point Tamaki's grandmother offers her financial security in return for relinquishing all control and visiting rights over her son to her. Anne-Sophie accepts this offer because she is ill and fears for her son's future, going into hiding after Tamaki's departure. In the manga, during a 2nd-year school trip to France, Kyoya Ootori finds her and discovers that she is living quite healthily and thinking of her son every day. It is revealed in Chapter 77 of the manga that Anne-Sophie suffers with Systemic lupus erythematosus. Eventually, mother and son are reunited in Japan. In the manga, it is shown that the Suou family establishes a friendly bond with Haruhi's father, Ryoji Fujioka Shizue Suoh Shizue is the Suoh matriarch and controls all of the Suoh holdings, including their personal finances; she is also Tamaki's grandmother and Yuzuru's mother. When she is widowed at a rather young age, she forces Yuzuru into an arranged marriage and makes him the Suoh patriarch (in name only) in order to strengthen the Suoh Family's position in both social and business circles. Though it is unknown what she was like prior to this time, it seems that succeeding events caused her to become bitter and mean, and one of the only people that Honey hates. It's no secret that she resents Anne-Sophie and Tamaki, often calling her grandson a "fillthy child" and refusing to acknowledge him due to his illegitimacy. However, because of Tamaki's kindness and true desire to befriend and be close to his grandmother, her heart softens and she comes to love and acknowledge the boy. Over time, she also comes to accept Tamaki's mother because of the generous spirit Tamaki has demonstrated despite hardship. In the manga, it is through Haruri and her friends' intervention and mediation that Shizue comes to terms with Anne-Sophie and Tamaki to the point that Shizue asks Tamaki to appologize to Anne-Sophie on her behalf, as well as insist that Tamaki see his mother off. Shizue remarks that she finds Haruhi an interesting girl and that she supports Tamaki's decision to be with her. Relationships Haruhi Fujioka Initially, Tamaki sees Haruhi as a commoner and is the last of the hosts to realize her true gender (which he only realizes when he accidentally observes her changing). Tamaki shows deep fondness on Haruhi and deeply cares for her. He also wants to be closer to Haruhi and sometimes even get jealous at the Hitachiin twins for being in the same grade and class at her. When the second years went to France but Tamaki did not go, Tamaki reveals it to Haruhi and kissed her forehead then says goodbye. That is when Haruhi slowly realizes her own feelings for Tamaki. As for Tamaki, he considered it 'normal' because that's what his father did to him when he was sick. For most of the series, he expresses his feelings towards her as "Fatherly Love" as he does not realize that the feeling he has for her is, in fact, romantic love. Hikaru helped him realize his real romantic feelings to Haruhi and helped him understand that their bond together as a host club or as a family can't be easily broken so he shoud not be scared on being together with Haruhi. At first, Haruhi calls him obnoxious due to his antics, but later realizes that he is genuinely thoughtful and kind to her, as well as others. After they overcome countless difficulties (which mainly consists of clarifying their dense feelings for each other). At the end, the two are shown marrying in an omake, and are the first of the Host Club members to have children. Kyoya Ootori As Tamaki's best friend since middle school, Kyoya has shared the same class as him since they met; their close relationship manifesting itself in the blond's frequent reference to him as "Mommy" and his reciprocated reference to Tamaki as "Daddy." Despite their differing outward personalities, they are both shown to share the quality of helping others, and Kyoya is often shown assisting Tamaki in implementing the blond's plans. When first introduced to each other, Kyoya is polite but secretly envies Tamaki's position as the heir-apparent within the Suoh family despite his status as an illegitimate son. In time, the bespectacled male lets his frustrations towards Tamaki out in an emotional outburst, where he accuses Tamaki of not trying hard enough to achieve patriarchal status of his family. Tamaki responds that it is Kyoya himself who refuses to rise to that particular challenge. An epiphany occurs within Kyoya, who realizes that Tamaki is correct and that his honesty in a world of duplicity makes him a valuable friend and ally. Kyoya cares for Tamaki. If it weren't for Tamaki, Kyoya would not have realize that he should work more hard and believe that he can try more hard enough and surpass his brothers. At the start of the series, Tamaki seems to understand Kyoya more as seen when Haruhi is asking him various questions about Kyoya. The same goes with Kyoya, who also values Tamaki and the reason he founded the Host Club with Tamaki is because he wanted to have more experiences from Tamaki, he remarks that Tamaki is a wonderful and actually and intellegent person despite his playfulness and exxagerating attitude sometimes. Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin Hikaru and Kaoru first meet Tamaki when he recruits them for his newly-formed Host Club during their last year of middle school. They agree to join on the condition that the blond male can win the "Which One Is Hikaru? Game" without random guessing. Despite the fact that he fails many times, he persists and finally guesses correctly to win the game once, via intution. The twins, secretly impressed with his determination, decide to uphold their end of the bargain and join the Host Club. Through their interaction with the club members, they begin to trust others and develop friendships with the other Hosts and generally become more social. It should be noted that Tamaki is the one to suggest their "Forbidden Brotherly Love" act as a means to draw customers to their club. Mitsukuni "Honey" Haninozuka Honey refers to Tamaki as "Tama-chan" and is shown to like and care for him greatly. Tamaki was the first person, outside of Mori, to encourage Honey to be exactly who he is without apology and who accepts his loli-shota ways without question, stating that true courage is the ability to be oneself. In the incident with the nefarious Newspaper Club, when Tamaki is accused of using his position as the School Board Chairman's son to control the other hosts, Honey defends him saying Tamaki is blameless in that regard; that they are all members of Host Club because they simply like him. Takashi "Mori" Morinozuka Mori and Tamaki become friends as a result of their mutual friendship with Honey, though they don't seem to interact on a personal level as much as the blond does with others; in fact, Mori's reticent nature renders him a bit of a mystery. When Ritsu Kasanoda comes to the club unannounced to become Mori's apprentice, Mori lashes out without warning, which Tamaki misinterprets as anger towards the club because Mori has so few lines throughout the anime; what follows is Mori's definitive episode, Mori-sempai has an Apprentice Candidate! Éclair Tonnere Éclair is an anime-only character that is both the heir apparent to the French-based Grand Tonnerre Group, as well as Tamaki's brief betrothed. After developing a crush on him thanks to stories from his mother (a housekeeper in her employ), she flies to Japan to take care of family business and to meet him, ultimately arranging to be engaged to him. When she recognizes that her fiance is attracted to Haruhi, she forces to disband the Host Club and agree to return to France with her, where he see his beloved mother once more. On the way to the airport, however, Haruhi drives a horse-drawn carriage up to the departing couple's automobile and begs Tamaki to stay with the Host Club because of their affection for him and their enjoyment of the Club, including herself. As both vehicles are crossing a bridge, Haruhi topples off the carriage and the bridge, plunging towards the water below. Tamaki bids farewell to Éclair and leaps after Haruhi, leaving the heiress to call him a fool, but remarking that even to someone as self-centered as herself, he managed to muster a genuine smile, demonstrating his innate sweetness. Gallery Tamaki Gallery 1.jpg|Depressed Tamaki consumes 'peasant ramen' Ranka4.png|Tamaki reappears from his mushroom closet tamaki-episode10-1.png|Tamaki attempts to explain his presence in the commoner's market tamaki-episode5.png|A serious/dreamy Tamaki tamaki-episode5-2.png|Tamaki staring at his arm... TamakiandAntoinette.jpg|Tamaki is bowled over by his dog, Antoinette Tamaki.jpg|A highly dreamy Tamaki Episode3-6.png|Tamaki's frequent daydreams about his and Haruhi's lovey-dovey life Episode2-06.png|Tamaki attempts to protect Haruhi's lips, and fails Episode1-07.png|Tamaki blushes furiously from his thoughts... ImagesCAEB8RNG.jpg|A dressed-up Chibi Tamaki... Kirimi with Tamaki.png|Kirimi mistakes Tamaki for her 'Oniichama' Yabu and Tamaki.png|Tamaki sympathises with Dr Yoba Tamaki Gallery 2.jpg|Tamaki dramatically declares a crazy idea Tamaki.1.jpg|Tamaki, completely immersed in his Host role Episode 6 tamaki.png|Tamaki in one of his cosplaying outfits (this time, as an Arabian prince) Episode 6 tamaki happy.png|One of the many times when Tamaki acts dramatic to sway the customer's hearts TamakiSuoh.jpg|Tamaki quietly observes... 4.png|Tamaki unwittingly exudes his charms over Ayame (during Middle-School) Tamakihatter.jpg|Tamaki appears as the Mad Hatter in Haruhi's dream Bigbro.jpg|A confused Tamaki allows Kirimi to hug him... Hostclubgermination.jpg|Tamaki chats to Kyouya as they share a meal at the latter's house Kyotam.jpg|An excited Tamaki hugs a disgusted Kyouya Oh. so helpful.jpg|Tamaki tries to tell the other Hosts that he is doing nothing weird to Haruhi... Puppylove.jpg|Tamaki and Haruhi awkwardly sit in the pagoda as they await rescue... Tamakirescue.jpg|Tamaki grimly examines Haruhi after rescuing her Monami.jpg|Takami happily glomps his best friend, Kyouya (much to the latter's dismay) Tamakifreaks.jpg|Tamaki angrily calls the other hosts upon discovering Haruhi's disappearance Theexpert.jpg|Tamaki is found blushing, probably due to his suspicious daydreams... Tamaryoji.jpg|Ryouji stomps on an apologetic Tamaki and ignores his words Episode 7 - tamaki hugging haruhi.png|Tamaki dreamily hugs Haruhi, to the latter's annoyance Ourankotatsu.jpg|Tamaki observes Takashi/Mitsukuni at work in the Host Club Clocktowerwitch.jpg|Takami disguises himself as the Clocktower Witch Episode 7 - tamaki and haruhi.png|A resigned Haruhi leaves Tamaki to his idiotic thoughts Temptinghoney.jpg|Middle-school Tamaki attempts to lure Honey into joining the Host club Tamasideways.jpg|Tamaki engages in a water-fight after the Hitachiin twins provoke him Tamachallenge.jpg|Takami defiantly accepts the Hitachiin Twins' challenge to guess which twin is Hikaru Crabfordinner.jpg|Tamaki cowers in fright as Haruhi eats menacingly Tamamisuzu.jpg|Tamaki dumbly looks on as the proprietor excitedly shows him food Tamatears.jpg|Tamaki sadly stalks Haruhi and Hikaru during their date Hamstercage.jpg|Haruhi watches as Tamaki creates a hamster nest in a bout of depression... Threefools.jpg|Tamaki and the Hitachiin Twins wail dramatically at a lost opportunity with Haruhi... Intohisarms.jpg|Haruhi rushes into Tamaki's waiting arms Firstimpression.jpg|Ryouji receives a horrible first impression of Tamaki, thanks to his awkward position with Haruhi... Putthison.jpg|Tamaki attempts to cover up his blush as he tells Haruhi to wear a jacket... Isharujealous.jpg|Tamaki makes a most interesting face/pose in front of Eclair... Tamadreams.jpg|Tamaki smiles happily to himself in his sleep Carriagedriver.jpg|Tamaki as the driver in Kaoru's musings Tamaiskind.jpg|Tamaki comforts the girl which the Hitachiin twins bluntly rejected Decrepittama.png|Tamaki makes a most disturbing expression as a horrible realization makes itself known to him Hitthebooks.jpg Tamacharm.jpg Tamapersistence.jpg Benibarafans.jpg Tamatears.jpg Suoucomfort.jpg Iwontwearit.jpg Youbastard.jpg Soundofthunder.jpg Checking out the competition..jpg Tamaghost.jpg Ouranland.jpg Blackoniondone.jpg Watchingtheshow.jpg Harutamadance.jpg Bigoleperv.jpg Harureacts.jpg Bigsisters.jpg Tamaki annoyed.png Justmet.jpg Ouranstars.jpg Jump.jpg Refreshingtama.jpg Seeitall.jpg Eclair and tamaki.png Tamaatootoris.jpg Wtgtobenoticed.jpg Tamaki watching over his father.png Yuzuru whispering to kyouya.png Chapter 1 - haruhi and tamaki.png|Tamaki attempts to use his charms on masculine Haruhi, with negative results Quotes *''(To Kyoya) Kyoya, I just had an incredible idea! Let's form a club!' *(To Haruhi) ''Handsome men can't be hurt by water. *''(To a customer) ''When you're in front of me, my heart beats so quickly it's as if I am a youth tasting love for the first time. You are the beautiful mermaid who sheds light into my sea of loneliness - the sinful goddess who taught me about the forbidden fruit! *''(To a customer) ''Ahh Princess, even if the world ended this minute, I want to be the man who even sacrifices his own life to protect you. *''(To a customer) ''The spring of my heart surges upon the sight of your fresh smile, my love. *'Our Ouran Host Club exists to bring fortune to the ladies.' *'Call me king!' *''(To the twins) Evil twins, get away from my daughter!' *(To Kyoya) Mommy! Haruhi's using foul language!' *(To Haruhi) ''A little water never hurt anyone... besides, people always say I'm dripping with good looks. *''(Referring to Kyoya) All right! The Low Blood Pressure Evil Lord has given his approval, fellow subjects. Let's dress up the evil lord and bring him to the car! (M) *''(To Haruhi)'' '''I'll be here for you from now on. I'll try to have an eye on you so that you won't ever end up alone. *''(Pointing to Haruhi) You're going to pay for that! And look at what she's wearing! It's super cute! Really super cute!' *(To Kyoya) Bravo Kyoya, mon ami! Mon Ami! Yahoo!' *(To Haruhi)'' It's not everyday God creates a perfect person like moi, beautiful both inside and out. *''(To Haruhi)'' Isn't this crab... CRABtivating? *''(To a customer ) ''Ahh princess, I'm so glad to see your bright warm smile! *(To Haruhi) I'm making a hamster home. *''(To Haruhi)'' I'm not your sempai; I'm just an acquaintance. *''(To Mitsukuni) ''Do you think you could tell me what true strength is? I may be out of line, but hiding your true self and putting on airs doesn't seem any different than running away to me. I would think that embracing the things you truly like and being able to enjoy them is worth more than anything. To just be yourself... I believe that's what true strength really is. *''(To Hikaru and Kaoru) ''Do you really think I'm going to let Haruhi marry you guys? Daddy says, NO! *''(About Hikaru and Kaoru) ''Their world is still so small; it's such a shame. *''(To Haruhi)'' Experiences of all kinds! Trivia *Tamaki's view of Haruhi as a little girl is a defense mechanism known as "sublimation," where unacceptable feelings are relegated into a more acceptable format for the individual in order to maintain a particular relationship or situation which would otherwise be considered inappropriate or undesireable. *Tamaki shares his birthday with Buddha (i.e. April 8); April Fool's Day (i.e. April 1) having been an alternate suggestion. *His nickname "Tono" means "lord" from antiquity, as noted in the Chapter 1 of the manga. *In Chapter 21 of the manga and Episode 11 of the anime, Tamaki is shown to bear a striking resemblance to Umehito Nekozawa, President of the Black Magic Club. *The Japanese character in Tamaki's surname (王) means king or ruler, hence his being the "princely" type. *Tamaki's English voice actor is Vic Mignogna, who is also the voice actor of Takenaga from The Wallflower and Zero Kiryu from Vampire Knight. *In episode 17 of the anime, "Kyoya's Reluctant Day Out," Tamaki buys Antoinette, a dog that constantly licks his face. In a manga omake, however, it is shown that Antoinette first arrived at the 2nd Suou Mansion as a welcome gift from the staff and that Antoinette is the sister of Anne-Sophie's dog, Hachibei. *Many fans say that he looks exactly like Hiro from Soul Eater. Anime Appearances Chapter Appearances Category:Characters Category:Host Club Members Category:Male Characters Category:Ouran Academy Students Category:Anime Characters